Republic of the Congo - Repubblica del Congo

Republic of the Congo is a nation ofWest Africa it borders to the north with the Cameroon and the Central African Republic, to the east and to the south with the Democratic Republic of Congo, south for a short distance with the exclave Angolan of Cabinda, to the southwest it overlooks the Gulf of Guinea and to the west it borders the Gabon.

To know

Geographical notes

The Republic of the Congo is located in the central-western part of sub-Saharan Africa, straddling the equator. To the south and east it has the Congo as natural borders and one of its tributaries, the Ubangi on the opposite bank of which the Democratic Republic of Congo is located, to the west it overlooks the Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Guinea).

The country is 65% covered with rainforests, which provide some valuable species of export timber. For the rest, the plains characterize the Atlantic coast up to the Mayombe mountains, while the northern part of the country is occupied by a vast plateau crossed by numerous tributaries of the Congo River that flows along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congo River is the second largest river in the world by water flow. The climate is always hot and humid, with average annual temperatures in the capital hovering around 25-26 degrees. The "dry season" is more prolonged near the Mayombe Mountains on the southern border.

In the northwestern basin of the Congo River there is one of the three national parks that form the Sangha Trinational, a site that is part of the heritage of theUNESCO. The other two parks belong to Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

When to go

To choose when to visit the country it is advisable to keep in mind that the climate in the country is equatorial therefore sunny and rainy days alternate abruptly or "subequatorial" at the southern borders. It is rainy from January to May and with a very high average rate of humidity compared to the annual average of temperatures around 26-27 ° C. There are no precise seasons in any area of ​​the country except in the south where there is a good, more stable period of sunshine but never completely reliable.

Background

The first inhabitants of the region were pygmy peoples. In the 15th century, the slave trade began in favor of European civilizations. In 1891 the region was declared a colony with the name of French Congo and in 1910, following the reorganization of the French colonies, it was included in French Equatorial Africa, which included the area of ​​the current states of Gabon, Chad, Central African Republic and Republic of the Congo, of which Brazzaville became capital. In 1958 the colony was divided into the current four states and on November 28 of the same year the Central Congo region became the Republic of Congo, declared independent of the France on August 15, 1960.

Spoken languages

In addition to the official language, many Bantu languages ​​are widespread locally, including Kikongo, Kituba and Lingala.

Suggested readings

• "Le nebbie del Congo" by Angelo Ferrari and Lorenzo Orioli, EMI coll.Antropolis

Territories and tourist destinations

The state is divided into 12 regions (régions) which in turn are divided into 86 districts and 7 municipalities.

Urban centers

Other destinations

How to get

Entry requirements

Passport, visa and yellow fever vaccination. The visa can be obtained at Rome at theembassy or a Genoa at the consulate; 2 passport photos, an invitation letter, return ticket, yellow fever vaccination, passport and completed form are required.Italian embassy it is found at Brazzaville

By plane

The airport Maya-Maya (IATA: BZV) of Brazzaville is connected by:

• Air France to Douala (Cameroon), Addis Ababa is Kinshasa
• Ethiopian Airlines to: Nairobi is Casablanca

How to get around

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What see

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What to do

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Currency and purchases

CEMAC - Map of participating countries CFA Franc - Map of participating countries

The national currency is the CFA franc (XAF). This same currency is used by all states belonging to theEconomic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l'Afrique Centrale - CEMAC). The following states belong to the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon is Chad. Although the Central African CFA Franc (XAF) and the West African CFA Franc (XOF) have always had the same monetary value against other currencies, they are in principle two separate currencies because the competent monetary authorities could change their rate at any time. exchange. Therefore these currencies are "theoretically" accepted only in the countries where they officially circulate. The following states belong to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine - UEMOA): Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal is Togo

UEMOA - Acceding countries map 1 CFA Franc coin

Below are the links to know the current exchange rate with the main world currencies:

(EN) With Google Finance:	AUDCADCHFEURGBPHKDJPYUSD
With Yahoo! Finance:	AUDCADCHFEURGBPHKDJPYUSD
(EN) With XE.com:	AUDCADCHFEURGBPHKDJPYUSD
(EN) With OANDA.com:	AUDCADCHFEURGBPHKDJPYUSD

At the table

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Tourist infrastructure

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Events and parties

National holidays

Safety

The country is safe from every point of view, petty crime is not widespread.

Health situation

The medical-hospital facilities are lacking and the availability of drugs is good. The most common diseases are malaria, typhoid fever, hepatitis and cholera, the rate of HIV which is 3.3% in the city of Point-Noire has a percentage of 14%.

Respect the customs

Very strange are the traditions to commemorate deceased relatives. They organize funeral wakes lasting a couple of weeks or even longer. Where friends, relatives or simple acquaintances gather to consume typical meals and drinks (generally beer produced in Congo), everything takes place in an atmosphere of a strange euphoria and pain at the same time. On the contrary, the birth of a child is almost completely indifferent. Another case, there are two types of weddings here, one typical with a ceremony and a bride in a white dress is very similar to ours. The other that has no legal value is the family marriage comparable to an official engagement in Italy but with the prerogative that after the pseudo ceremony the two can live together as husband and wife.

How to keep in touch

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Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Republic of the Congo
• Commons contains images or other files on Republic of the Congo
• Wikinews contains current news on Republic of the Congo